Women Pay More for Health Insurance
Posted November, 4 2008 by arianne
Need a Cesarean? Victim of domestic abuse? Many insurers charge you more to cover those health services. A new report by the National Women’s Law Center (“NWLC”) documents that insurance companies routinely charge women higher insurance premiums than men.
The report was picked up in yesterday’s New York Times editorial “Gouging Women on Health Insurance,” which highlighted the NWLC report and NY Times reporter Robert Pear’s work documenting that women face 4-48% higher premium costs.
In New York, thanks to open enrollment/community rating laws, insurance discrimination based on gender differences is illegal. Nevertheless, these reports highlight an important issue–one that needs to be addressed in the national health reform conversation.
1 Comments
Arthur Springer • Jan.31.2009 at 02:21:pm
COPY OF MESSAGE TO NYC COUNCIL SPEAKER QUINN et al
RE COUNCIL HEARING 2/5/9:
Please tell Councilmembers Rivera and Mears to stop pandering to the women’s health lobby and to deal with health rather than the politics of health. When was the council’s last hearing on men’s health? What’s the latest data on FDNY and EMS response time to 911 calls about heart attacks? One of my neighbors died of a heart attack two weeks ago. We will never get to universal health care so long as politicians keep playing these divisive health care games.
Arthur Springer
Lay Advocate for People With DIsabilities
cc: Betsy Gotbaum
Gov. Paterson
HHS Secretary-Designate Tom Daschle